


an empire for you

by skywalkerz



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: ???? - Freeform, Afterlife, Bittersweet, Character Death, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, Post-Avengers (2012), Post-Endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23821633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skywalkerz/pseuds/skywalkerz
Summary: tony stark is dead. he figures he's supposed to see pepper, morgan, maybe happy or rhodey at the end of everything.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36





	an empire for you

Tony Stark is dead.

There’s white, and then black, and then – 

“Tony.”

And there’s a familiar voice. The only voice that can make Tony’s name feel so unique, so perfect and holy, like he’s the only Tony on the planet. Tony tuns around, and he’s surprised at the sight, honestly. It’s Steve, sure, but not current Steve.   
He’s younger, Tony can tell, because he doesn’t look at exhausted or worn down. He looks optimistic, gentle, maybe even relieved or calm. He’s not in his most updated and recent Captain America uniform, but one from 2012, so childish and silly now, after everything Tony has seen. 

He tries to speak but nothing comes out.

“I knew you’d be okay.” Steve says, gently, so sure of himself, sounding like he's always been on Tony's side. 

Tony’s confused. Because he isn’t okay. After all, he died. 

He wants to reply, but Steve keeps talking. 

“I wanted to tell you that when I saw you come plummeting from the sky...from that wormhole…I felt guilty. I’m sorry you were alone up there. And I wanted to tell you that you’re never going to be alone like that again.”

Wormhole?

Tony looks down at himself, clad in a typical ACDC shirt. He looks around, trying to make out his surroundings. Tony cannot say where they are, but it’s familiar, like it’s a place he used to know, when he was alive, and now he can’t remember. Like maybe now this is just a place for Steve and him. In past lives, unreachable, but now, all theirs. 

“What are you talking about?”   
Tony hears himself say. It sounds underwater, almost. Steve throws up a questioning eyebrow, tilting his head slightly in confusion. He takes a step forward. It scares Tony, knowing that Steve might not actually be here.

“The wormhole. The chitauri army? Tony, you threw yourself into the wormhole and we didn’t think you’d come out! Hey, do you have a concussion?” 

And then Steve is stepping forward, placing a hand against Tony’s forehead, running it down the side of his cheek, stroking his jawline gently, gazing at Tony with blue eyes – same as always. But they’re hopeful, innocent, full of light and love and compassion.

And now Tony knows – this is before it all. Before accords. Before the five years apart. Before ‘we’ll lose’, ‘we’ll do that together, too’. Before Tony was lost in space with Nebulla and before he came back only to yell at Steve. Before Ultron, before Tony saw Steve look at him like he didn’t even recognize him anymore. Before ‘I will miss you, Tony’.   
Before Tony didn’t know about his parents, Bucky, Bucky, Bucky. The way that Steve had hurdled his shield into Tony’s chest – 

Before all of that. Because Steve’s eyes haven’t looked that radiant in years. 

“I came back.” Tony says.   
The more he talks, the less underwater it sounds. It sounds foreign. Because maybe at this point in his life he should still be arguing with Steve, maybe he should be taking the path they were always accustomed to. Always in two different worlds, always fighting to be on the same page. But it’s so much easier, he thinks, to reach this tranquility with Steve.

Steve smiles, actually smiles, pearly whites on display, a dimple even coming out as he can’t control his joy. He cups Tony’s face in his hands.

“You’ll always come back?” Steve asks him.

Tony knows he will. Here, wherever it is, it is the beginning. There will be no Thanos or alien threat that will turn Steve and Tony against one another. Tony will never have to look at that annoying phone anymore, mocking him with Steve’s number contained in it, a constant reminder of his absence. 

“I’ll always come back.” He swallows away the lump in his throat.


End file.
